JPMorgan Chase To Kick Off Earnings Season Tuesday

JPMorgan Chase is expected to report its fourth quarter earnings before U.S. markets open Tuesday January 14, and investors are expecting solid results for profits, even if revenues continue to struggle. Shares of JPMorgan are trading at a 52-week high heading into the earnings despite spending much of 2019 battling a tough yield curve, weak business investment, and trade issues.

Even though the three interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve likely hurt interest income, there are several other areas that have likely helped JPMorgan over the course of the fourth quarter.

One of those areas is the consumer, whose confidence in the economy is likely to have meant more credit card spending this past holiday season. More credit card spending means more fees flowing to the bank.

Another area that is expected to show improvement in the fourth quarter is the bank’s trading revenues. The rally in stocks and bonds in the final quarter of 2019 is likely to have led to greater trading profits for JPMorgan.

A steeper yield curve in the fourth quarter was also likely to give the bank a boost in the form of improved margins after the inverted yield curve seen at the start of 2019.

It’s also clear that JPMorgan has been doing a good job managing its expenses as evidenced by the rising profits at the bank, despite revenues remaining nearly flat.

Earnings are expected to show healthy growth, coming in at $2.34 a share on revenue of $27.92 billion versus earnings of $1.98 a share in the same quarter last year.